From hrwatchnyc@igc.org Sat Oct 5 03:10:53 1996 Date: 4 Oct 96 From: hrwatchnyc@igc.org To: hrw-news@igc.org Subject: West Bank & Gaza--Closure Is Creating Humanitarian Crisis (Washington, D.C., October 3, 1996)--Human Rights Watch is alarmed at the humanitarian crisis that has emerged following the tightening of the three-year-old general "closure" the term referring to the sealing of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the reimposition of an internal closure on the West Bank. The confinement of most Palestinians to their own communities amounts to a form of town arrest. According to Human Rights Watch, the manner in which Israel has imposed restrictions on the movement of Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip violates its obligations under international law, even when current security exigencies are taken into consideration. When Human Rights Watch released Israel's Closure of the West Bank and Gaza in July 1996, the new government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu discussed easing the closure, and some progress had been made in the past few months. However, with every new crisis, Israel has automatically tightened the closure on the territories, in a manner that causes indiscriminate harm to the civilian population there, and without making serious efforts to provide relief to offset the harm to the population. Restrictions on movement imposed in February-March 1996, after four deadly suicide bombings in Israel, had serious and long-lasting repercussions for Palestinian society. Today, that humanitarian crisis is being replayed, but acute shortages in basic medical supplies and the denial of passage to patients and ambulances are reportedly having more serious consequences, in light of the fact that over 1,000 Palestinians sustained injuries during the violent clashes of last week. The manner in which Israel implements restrictions on movement violates the 1907 Hague Regulations and the 1949 IV Geneva Convention, including the prohibition against collective punishment, and the requirements that an occupying power ensure the welfare of the occupied population, and ensure food and relief supplies and medical care. The "general" closure prohibits the movement of goods and individuals from or into the West Bank or Gaza Strip, as well as movement between the two territories, except to those who hold Israeli-issued permits, while recurrent "total" closures prevent even those who hold valid permits from entering or leaving the West Bank and Gaza. These restrictions have seriously harmed the population, by preventing health-care personnel from reaching their workplaces or providing emergency services, interfering with the movement of ambulances and severely hampering patient access to both primary and specialized health care. In addition, closures prevent thousands of students from attending schools and universities and interferes with both Christian and Muslim worship. Closures also separate families divided by the borders of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem and Gaza, and prevents lawyers and family members from visiting Palestinians imprisoned or detained inside Israel. The economic impact of closure is also severe, due to onerous restrictions imposed on the movement of goods, and sharp decreases in the number of Palestinians permitted to work inside Israel. These measures have further impoverished the economies of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, leading to a rise in unemployment and an increase in the number of individuals and families requiring food or cash assistance. Israel has no obligation under international law to create economic prosperity in the West Bank and Gaza or provide jobs inside Israel to Palestinians. However, when its security policies make it difficult or impossible for Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza to meet their basic needs independently, Israel bears responsibility for ensuring that these needs are met. *** Human Rights Watch/Middle East Human Rights Watch is a nongovernmental organization established in 1978 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Middle East and among the signatories of the Helsinki accords. It is supported by contributions from private individuals and foundations worldwide. It accepts no government funds, directly or indirectly. Kenneth Roth is the executive director and Robert L. Bernstein is the chair of the board. Its Middle East division was established in 1989 to monitor and promote the observance of internationally recognized human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Eric Goldstein is the acting executive director. Gary Sick is the chair of the advisory committee. Gopher Address://gopher.humanrights.org:5000 Listserv address: To subscribe to the list, send an e-mail message to majordomo@igc.apc.org with "subscribe hrw-news" in the body of the message (leave the subject line blank). Human Rights Watch 485 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10017-6104 TEL: 212/972-8400 FAX: 212/972-0905 E-mail: hrwnyc@hrw.org 1522 K Street, N.W. Washington D.C. 20005 TEL: 202/371-6592 FAX: 202/371-0124 E-mail: hrwdc@hrw.org